Review: DEFIANCE / L. R. Burkard

L. R. Burkard concludes her story of three teen girls (Andrea Patterson,Lexie Martin, and Sarah Weaver) living in a post-apocalyptic United States. The story is told through their viewpoint, as they experience life after an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disaster.

Over the course of the three books, the girls grow from spoiled, self-centered girls to mature young women, capable of holding their own in a world very different from what they knew. They learn to value simpler things, to work as a team, to see value in life as it now exists. In the face of foreign soldiers, nuclear strikes, and guerrilla armies, the girls learn to adjust to life beyond survival. They make the best decisions they can, given the circumstances, relying on God to get them through the darkest of times. Can they face these times with defiance and carve out a new life for themselves?

L. R. Burkard excels at telling an engaging story; the first-person point of view helps to create real characters the reader can relate to, even if the reader doesn’t agree with their choices. Unlike the earlier books, other voices are added to the girls’ voices to the narrative of Defiance. Andrea and Lexis have teen romances, but their relationships are clean. Adults will find it a clean (no drugs, alcohol, or no inappropriate sex) book with no graphic violence, and it may cause to think about how they would face such a disaster.